House subcommittee looks at ways to restore native forests
Copyright 2001 Associated Press
June 20, 2001
By KATHERINE PFLEGER, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - The Northwest is losing ponderosa pines. Red maple trees in the East are overtaking oaks. And in the Southwest, white firs are replacing Douglas firs.
Those species of trees are among a list of examples that experts pointed to Tuesday as a House Resources' forests subcommittee considered a bill to protect the nation's dwindling native forests.
The bill would create a national register of historic forests to highlight those that need protection and restoration. It would also create a national advisory council to handle the preservation work.
But environmentalists worry that at least part of the effort would be paid for by logging proceeds. Steve Holmer, campaign coordinator for the American Lands Alliance, said he sees that with projects that are now under way.
"What we are seeing on the ground (are) projects billed as restoration, but they have a logging component," he said. "We are very concerned about getting into a system in which restoration is tied to commodity extraction."
But Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, the bill's author, said that his intent is not a smoke screen for more logging. "This is meant to be a working draft," he said.
The Forest Service supports restoring forests and is undertaking restoration work consistent with the bill's goals now, said Associate Deputy Chief Sally Collins.
She outlined a list of factors that she thought needed to be addressed before Congress moves forward with the legislation.
Among them was a discussion of the scientific considerations for basing restoration on pre-European conditions. "What year do we manage for?" she asked.
In the 1500s, native forests covered 45 percent of the lower 48 states. About 12 percent have since been leveled for cities and farms, according to Thomas Bonnicksen, forest science professor at Texas A&M University.
In the Northwest, cathedral groves of Douglas fir are naturally dying, and being replaced by less stately forests like the western hemlock, a tree that does well in the shade, Bonnicksen said.
Also of concern are the white firs of Oregon and California that are replacing ponderosa pines, giant sequoias and other species of trees.
"These were truly magnificent forests," Bonnicksen said.
John Barnett, chairman of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and Cowlitz Timber Inc. in Washington state, said that native forests are part of his tribe's culture, like the salmon.
"Over the years, I have observed all the changes man has made to the national forest - some good, a lot of them bad," Barnett said. "For the first time in all my years, I have really seen some commonsense come before Congress."